Islanders beat slumping Predators 4-3 in clash of leaders

The Associated Press

Mar. 06, 2015

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — The New York Islanders beat Nashville 4-3 in Thursday's clash of divisional leaders, sending the Predators to their fifth straight loss.

The result moved the Islanders back into sole possession of the Metropolitan Division lead ahead of the New York Rangers, albeit having played three more games, and also put them within a point of Eastern Conference leader Montreal, which lost in overtime at Los Angeles.

The Predators missed a chance to draw level with Anaheim atop the Western Conference standings but did retain a four-point lead in the Central Division as nearest rival St. Louis lost at Philadelphia.

In another key game between playoff aspirants, Minnesota scored two late goals to win at Washington.

The Islanders blew a two-goal lead in the third period but Brock Nelson scored with 6:08 left to give New York a valuable victory.

John Tavares had a goal and an assist, and Anders Lee and Nick Leddy also had goals for the visitors.

Colin Wilson, Craig Smith and Mike Ribeiro scored for Nashville.

Los Angeles' Marian Gaborik scored his second power-play goal to tie the game with 45 seconds left in regulation, and netted again in the shootout as the Kings beat Montreal 4-3.

Jeff Carter also scored in regulation and the shootout, which ended when Montreal's Lars Eller hit the post.

Max Pacioretty scored in the third period and again in the shootout for the Canadiens, who rallied from an early two-goal deficit as Tom Gilbert and Brendan Gallagher scored 94 seconds apart in the second period.

The Canadiens have lost three straight for the first time in three months.

Minnesota's Jason Pominville scored two third-period goals to rally the Wild to a 2-1 win at Washington.

Devan Dubnyk, who has started a franchise-record 22 games, made 24 saves for Minnesota, which has won four straight to move up to fifth in the West standings.

Curtis Glencross scored his first goal for the Capitals since arriving from Calgary in a trade on Sunday.

Philadelphia's Michael Del Zotto and Wayne Simmonds scored third-period goals to rally the Flyers to a 3-1 win over St. Louis.

Michael Raffl scored an empty-net goal to seal the victory and complete a comeback after conceding the opening goal.

Jaden Schwartz scored his 21st goal of the season for the Blues.

Calgary recorded its first win at Boston in 12 years, beating the Bruins 4-3 after a shootout.